Volunteer of the Month
Archives
July 2020
Mae Lucero
This month we’d like to shine the light on someone who really stepped it up during the COVID-19 shutdown. Mae Luerco had been volunteering her time in the food program before the shutdown, coming in and accepting donations, taking down names, and checking membership. She would also come in early and before the rush of the crowd, to help with setting up, cleaning tables, vacuuming, and emptying the trash. Once the shutdown happened as our lunch program evolved while still keeping the food program, Mae went into overdrive. While others stayed home, Mae came in 5 days a week to help package and pass out the lunches, making sure all the health regulations were maintained. She would then stay after to help out with the Walmart Food Program, unloading the food, separating and sorting, then handing that out as well. Again, once she was done, she would help clean up and take down the area. During all this, her perpetual smile and sweet attitude never wavered. Thanks Mae for making sure our seniors got something to eat.
Featured Class
Spanish
Date: April 23, 2020
Time: 1:30 - 2:30 pm
Length: 8 weeks
Cost: $8 members
$8 non-members
Instructor: TBA
Location: Game Room
Description: This class is designed to teach students conversational Spanish. The class will enable you to carry on limited conversation at first just to get you started. Then as you progress, so will the levels. As for what to bring, just bring a writing instrument and paper. Books might come later. We hope to see you there, or as you will soon be saying, Esperamos verte ahÃ.
Featured Activity
Yoga
Time: Fridays 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Cost: $5.00 per class members
$5.00 per class non-members
Location: Exercise Room
Description: In these stressful times we have the perfect solution to help you relax. Yoga. Yuki Mugimiya, our yoga instructor, came to us from Kumamoto, Japan. It was there that he mastered karate and yoga. It was this mastery that brought him to the states. He was hired in 1971 by the Cincinnati Police Department to teach them karate. While there he also taught at the University of Kentucky. Then he transferred to the west coast to teach at U.S.C. He said that he teaches seniors the same techniques he taught the police and college students. He just slows down the pace. It is a mixture of Japanese, Chinese, and Indian yoga. [Sendo which blends Asamas (postures), Seifuku-ho, Qi-Gong, Mantras, and a few other techniques into this unique style.] He is also certified with the Bodden Institute for Yoga Holistic Studies and the International Yoga Alliance. So whether you have trouble getting into the lotus position, or if you can get both legs behind your head, this class is for you, he'll be able to get you relaxed. He also shows Shia-tsu and other massage techniques as well. The classes are on Wednesdays and Fridays at 10:00 am and are only $3 per class, so come and join them for a stress free time.
Operation Senior Claus 2011
By: Mike Sylva
(Christmas) is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart. ~Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book
For those who have read Washington Irving’s ‘Old Christmas,’ you can appreciate the impact he had on bringing the idyllic English Christmas stateside. He is also credited by Charles Dickens as an influence on his own Christmas writings, including the classic A Christmas Carol. Both works seek to bring back the idea of hospitality. Something we could use in this commercialized Christmas era.
One way you can help with this is to remember that in this “season of giving”, it’s not always the amount of presents, or giving for giving’s sake. It’s giving to make a difference to someone. Presents don’t have to be big or expensive. Sometimes the smallest thing can make the biggest difference in someone’s life. For some seniors it only takes 1 can of food, or $10 gift card to brighten the holidays of a senior this Christmas.
Operation Senior Claus is now coming to the home stretch and we need you to make it a success for us, but also a Merry Christmas for our seniors. We are hoping to help out over 100 seniors this years, but we need your help. We will be preparing Christmas dinners (turkey and all the trimmings), and little gift baskets for some worthy seniors. To do this we are still in need of money donations, gift cards to food markets, as well as hygiene products (i.e. toothbrushes, shampoo).
So please think about helping out those less fortunate and take the words of Ruth Cater Stapleton to heart. “Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving the light of love to those who need it most.”
